1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to mechanical devices for use with hangers provided with clamping members. More specifically, the invention relates to an apparatus for automatically opening and closing the clamping members of flexible skirt hangers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Garment manufacturers have for many years utilized flexible or pliable clothing hangers to hang clothes after manufacture, and during shipment to customers. The significant variety of hangers available in the prior art may be characterized as either clamping or non-clamping hangers.
Clamping hangers are those provided with means thereon for actively clamping or gripping clothing hung on the hanger. Clamping hangers, as the term is used herein, generally incorporate two clamping members which are normally in equilibrium in a closed position and must be separated or opened from said closed position to enable a garment (or garments) to be inserted between the clamping members which are then allowed to resume, or tend to resume their equilibrium position.
As is well known to those skilled in the art, depending on the construction of the hangers, the clamping members may be urged together in their equilibrium position by spring force means or may be maintained in said equilibrium position by an absence of forces urging them together. In either case, opening the clamping members necessitates applying a force to each clamping member greater than the equilibrium force. Removal of this opening force creates an imbalance whereby the inherent resiliency of the clamping members causes them to close toward the equilibrium position. Obviously, if a garment is inserted between the clamping members they will not be able to return to the equilibrium position (depending upon the thickness of the garment), but will tend to return to that position. The tension created between the clamping members as they tend to resume equilibrium serves to hold the garment therebetween (generally aided by projections on the clamping members).
Non-clamping hangers do not have clamping members and are utilized by merely draping the clothing thereon.
While several different types of clamping hangers are utilized throughout the garment industry, one of the most widely used is a flexible clamping hanger known as a plastic skirt hanger R-8 or R-11 (depending upon size) manufactured by Mr. Hanger, Inc., 20 Jones St., New Rochelle, N.Y. (as well as others). This type of hanger is made of plastic or similar flexible material in a one-piece molded configuration, and has the general appearance of a planar rectangle open along one long side with the hook attached to the other long side (best seen in FIGS. 3A and 3B below). Each short side of this rectangle has paired clamping members molded into it which, in this configuration, comprise a tongue and a tongue frame surrounding the tongue on three sides, the base of the tongue being molded into the skirt hanger and the tongue extending in a direction opposite that of the hook. The tongue and tongue frame clamping members of this type of skirt hanger are normally in equilibrium when nothing is inserted therebetween. As the clamping members are bent or moved apart by a user away from their equilibrium position, thus opening the tongue, the inherent resiliency of the material of which this hanger is made creates forces between a tongue and its corresponding tongue frame, urging them together again. Upon allowing the tongue to tend to resume its normal, equilibrium position, any garment inserted between the tongue and its corresponding tongue frame will be retained by the tension created by the garment being interwoven between said tongue and its corresponding tongue frame. Projections may be molded into the tongues and tongue frames to enhance their ability to hold garments.
No prior art device is known for automatically opening the tongues of such flexible skirt hangers. Accordingly, such skirt hangers have always been used manually to the disadvantage of garment manufacturers and others. The manual use of this type of hanger requires a user to proceed through several time consuming and inefficient manual operations in order to complete the task of securing a garment to the hanger. For example, the user must: (1) get one hanger; (2) place it on a working surface; (3) get the garment to be hung on the hanger; (4) open a first tongue of the hanger with one hand while inserting one side of the garment between the first tongue and its corresponding tongue frame; (5) release the first tongue; (6) open the other, second tongue of the hanger with one hand while inserting the other side of the garment between the second tongue and its corresponding tongue frame; (7) release the second tongue and (8) place the hanger with garment on a rack or other collecting spot. This manual labor requires a considerable amount of time and is therefore inefficient and expensive. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus for automatically opening and closing the clamping members of a flexible skirt hanger.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus for automatically feeding one hanger at a time to a work station where a user may utilize it to hang a garment thereon.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide an apparatus for automatically opening the clamping members of a flexible skirt hanger, enabling a user to insert a garment therebetween, and subsequently closing said clamping members, all operations capable of being performed without the necessity of the user manipulating said clamping members.